Do you hear that “pop”? Home prices in Sao Paulo drop 5.2% in January

The average home prices in the State of São Paulo fell by 5.2% in January when compared to December, according to the Regional Council of Realtors in the State of São Paulo (Creci-SP). The latest Creci-SP survey (full report can be downloaded below) indicates that the monthly price decline was the first since last September, when prices fell 4.36%. Still, for the last 12 months ending in January, the average home price increased 17.96%.

“Despite this January decline, the market should not have a sequence of price decreases in 2012,” says the Creci-SP President Jose Augusto NetoViana. He said the fall in prices in January is traditionally influenced by seasonal factors and it usually fails to set a trend. “Off-season is not a time worth of using in trend forecasts,” he said.

Sales and rentals

Still according to Creci-SP, the volume of homes sold in São Paulo fell 18.37% in January. The volume of homes rentals in January shot up 24.11%.